4.75/5 (Very Good)
1971 Nebula Nominated Novel (Silverberg declined the nomination)
The first two-thirds of Robert Silverberg’s masterpiece Downward to the Earth (1970) is easily in the pantheon of the best sections of a science fiction book I’ve ever read. I found it emotionally engaging and often downright nerve-racking, moody and disturbed, and engages in an intelligent and poignant manner with the issue of de-colonization which was coming to the fore in the 1960s. Continue reading
John Sherwood’s The Monolith Monsters (1957) is by far one of my favorite B sci-fi (ish) monster movies! I’m being very generous with rating but, this is a hilariously average (but wonderful) romp with one of the more peculiar “monsters” matched up with some of the best 50s special effects I’ve seen. The Monolith Monsters is without doubt one of the more interesting films of the 1950s American Realist Science Fiction movement Continue reading
3.75/5 (Good)
Barrington J. Bayley’s Collision Course (Collision with Chronos) (1973) is based on a fascinating hard sci-fi premise, the intersection of two time waves, one from the future heading into the past, and the “present”, heading Continue reading
4.5/5 (Very Good)
This is one of my all time favorite Arthur C. Clarke books. Published in 1955, Earthlight still remains a practically unknown work in Clarke’s massive canon. The minimalistic Continue reading
6/10 (Average)
The famous science fiction producer, George Pal (Destination Moon, The War of the Worlds, Conquest of Space, Time Machine, 7 Faces of Dr. Loa), vividly brings to the silver screen an adaptation of the famous 1930s novel, ‘When Worlds Collide’ by Philip Gordon Wylie and Edwin Balmer. The visual spectacle is quite Continue reading
3.25/5 (Good — collated rating)
James Blish, famous for his Hugo winning novel, A Case of Conscience, early Star Trek novelizations, and the Cities in Flight series also wrote some interesting short shorties. This volume includes a Continue reading
4/5 (Good)
Poul Anderson’s science fiction adventure tale, Three Worlds to Conquer, is a remarkably exciting and engaging quick read. Three Worlds is a “loose” sequel to Anderson’s short story, ‘Sam Hall’ published in the August 1953 edition of Astounding Science fiction. Both cover some aspect of post-WWIII Continue reading
2/5 (bad)
Future Earth uses special ethereal silk (from Mars) to power wood ocean going boats across the sky. The silk is running out and the ocean going boats with canvas are going to be the next big thing. OK.
AGAIN, the draw of the “future crumbling empire fixation” (FCEF) Continue reading
3/5 (Average)
A. E. van Vogt spins a great space opera in this short (157) page volume. Mission to the Stars–as it was later known–was originally published under the name The Mixed Men.
Here is a brief plot summary: Lady Gloria Laurr, Grand Captain Continue reading
Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations 